Sunday, 26 October 2014

Defence panel clears projects worth Rs 80,000 crore ($13 billion)

MoD to choose yards for building submarines;Israeli
Spike anti-tank missile chosen over US Javelin

By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 26th Oct 14

The
ministry of defence (MoD) on Saturday took a major step to address India’s
critical submarine shortage,. A committee has been set up to evaluate which
Indian defence shipyards can build six high-tech, conventional submarines under
Project 75I at an estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore.

The
government has also cleared the procurement of the Spike anti-tank missile from
Israel, effectively rejecting the US proposal to co-manufacture the Javelin
missile and then co-develop a next-generation version of the Javelin for the US
and Indian militaries. The government has also cleared several smaller projects
whose worth, according to ministry officials, totals Rs 80,000 crore. The
details of these smaller approvals, though, are not immediately available.

To identify
shipyards that will bid for the tender, the high-level committee, under
Secretary (Defence Production) G Mohan Kumar, has been given six-eight weeks to
screen five public sector and two private shipyards --- Mazagon Dock Ltd,
Mumbai (MDL), which is currently building six Scorpene submarines under Project
75; Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata; Hindustan Shipyard Ltd,
Visakhapatnam (HSL); Goa Shipyard Ltd; Cochin Shipyard Ltd; Larsen & Toubro
(L&T) and Pipavav Shipyard.

Highly
credible MoD sources say the shortlisted shipyards will be invited to submit
bids, in partnership with a foreign shipyard that meets the navy’s specifications
for the submarines. These include air-independent propulsion; the capability to
fire land attack cruise missiles; and advanced stealth features that make them
hard to detect.

Project 75I
stems from a “30-Year Submarine Construction Plan”, approved by the cabinet in
1999, for constructing 24 conventional submarines in India. Two separate
construction lines were to build six submarines each, one using western
technology; and the other with Russian know-how. Based on this experience,
Indian designers would build the next 12 submarines.

So far,
only six submarines are being built under Project 75 --- the Scorpenes at MDL.

Further
production has remained stalled, with three committees having been constituted by
the defence ministry to identify Indian shipyards that can build Project 75I.
In 2003, a committee, under a defence joint secretary, cleared L&T and MDL.
Yet, in 2008, a similar committee ruled out L&T.

So incensed
was the private engineering giant, which is playing a leading role in building
India’s nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, that the chairman, AM Naik, met then
prime minister, Manmohan Singh, to protest. That led to the setting up of a
third high-level committee, headed by the National Manufacturing
Competitiveness Council chief, V Krishnamurthy, which again cleared L&T and
MDL.

Meanwhile, to
ensure early delivery, the Indian Navy has pushed for building two submarines
abroad, while the domestic manufacturer absorbed technology and cranked up
production. Now, in keeping with the Modi government’s “Make in India” policy, and
in accordance with the 1999 plan, it has been decided that all six vessels will
be built in India.

Gone too is
the impractical United Progressive Alliance (UPA) plan to divide production
between two public sector defence shipyards (MDL and HSL) --- a device proposed
by then defence minister, AK Antony, to keep HSL in business. Instead, a single
shipyard will build all six submarines.

The big
potential gainer from today’s decision is L&T, which is back in contention
for winning, single-handedly, Indian warship-building’s largest-ever order.

Speaking to
Business Standard today, MV Kotwal, L&T’s defence business chief, said:
“L&T would welcome any decision to evaluate Indian shipyards for both
capacity and capability in building submarines. We have both the infrastructure
and the experience in our Hazira shipyard, and also in our new Katupalli shipyard
(at Ennore, Tamil Nadu). Most importantly, we have established a
state-of-the-art submarine design centre in Chennai and a virtual reality
centre in Mumbai, both essential for Project 75I.”

Separately,
Business Standard learns the MoD has cleared the Rs 2,000 crore procurement of two
midget submarines, used for special operations like landing commandoes on enemy
shores. It is likely that HSL Visakhapatnam, the defence ministry’s newest
shipyard, will build these in partnership with a foreign vendor.

In another
major decision on Saturday that is loaded with politics, the MoD has cleared
the procurement of the Israeli Spike anti-tank missile for the army’s infantry
battalions to destroy enemy tanks. MoD sources say the Rs 3,200 crore contract
is for about 300 launchers and more than 8,000 missiles. Production facilities
will be established in Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Hyderabad.

This
constitutes a flat rejection of the US proposal to co-manufacture the Javelin anti-tank
missile in India and, unprecedentedly, co-develop with the Defence R&D
Organisation (DRDO) a next-generation version of the Javelin. That proposal was
made under the Defence Trade & Technology Initiative, a high-level defence
channel established to boost defence ties between New Delhi and Washington With
the US lobbying New Delhi at multiple levels, including during Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s recent visit, this is an unmistakeable snub for Washington.

Amongst
other procurements cleared are: 363 new BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles from
Ordnance Factory, Medak, for the army for Rs 1,800 crore; 761 radio relay
containers for army communications for Rs 662 crore; 1,768 railway wagons for
Rs 740 crore for quickly moving army units over long distances; and 12
additional Dornier aircraft for the navy, which Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)
will build for Rs 1,850 crore.

Speaking at
the MoD’s apex Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Saturday, where the
procurement decisions were made, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said “National
security is a paramount concern for the government. All hurdles and bottlenecks
in the procurement process should be addressed expeditiously so that the pace
of acquisitions is not stymied.”

There is no fresh thinking in Indian Government. The Honourable Defence Minister, who is also Finance Minister of India would have done better, if decisive actions for disinvestment of Bharat Dynamics Ltd. was initiated while procuring missiles from Israel. Why BDL is not exporting such successfully developed missiles as Akash, Nag etc. This is only due to influence of foreign arms dealers.Indian government must initiate actions for disinvestment of Defence PSUs. Defence PSUs must increase manufacturing capacity and start exporting its products.I wish Honourable Prime Minister of India signs an agreement to sale ten Dhruv / Rudra helicopters during his next visit to Myanmar.

Ajai shills ji, What anon at 10:17 was hinting was that your typo was equivalent to a wife screaming her lovers name rather than her husband's name in the bedroom. Which might have been done unknowingly, but does spill the beans-raju

What is your take on India's rejection of Javelin missiles? Were there technical reasons behind this decision? Or this govt. only formalized the decision based on the work done by the previous government?

Great news should have been done by the previous government.There is obviously time before the deal actually goes through and a lot of time before we get the first sub.I think we should go with the German Sub as it is non-metallic and virtually impossible to detect.Till then it is also important to maintain a minimum acceptable sub force, I think it would make great sense to go in for 6 Kilos from Russia. We would not need buy weapons for them just transfer them, also if we replace an scrap 6 old kilos we could get a lot of spares for smooth running of these boats. With this we would be able to hit 30 subs in the foreseeable future not immediate I assume. Although I think Russian stuff is rugged but crude but with their inclusion we could curtail the dropping numbers. Also some talk of the Rafale, although it is an amazing bird but it doesn't fit the bill. 200+ Tejas could be better in terms of number fillers.500 Dhanush guns another good consideration, this would be all Made in INDIA.

There are other blogs (trident) reporting that the missile deal is just for SF and newly created mountain div. Also, that Javelin still will be in competition to equip 360 odd infantry battalions. Is it right information?Regards

Based on your experience with Armor , what is the relevance of armored personnel carriers, when today we have Mine resistant vehicles ? As I understand (kindly correct me if I'm wrong) prolonged campaigns of any war will occur in urban areas as seen in Afghanistan,Iraq and Syria where the main threat is IEDs. Here it is proven that Mine resistant vehicles offer better protection perhaps even better than MBTs leave alone BMPs or Bradley fighting vehicles. protection against enemy MBTs , neither can survive main gun rounds. Mobility ? Hands down MRVs win. Battle field recovery, salvage and repair ? MRVs win. Amphibious Capabilities ? BMPs win. Armament ? Heavy caliber canons and ATGMs can be fitted on both. So what is the relevance of BMPs today ?